Leo Grady has helped develop several cutting-edge technologies in the health care industry, including the first artificial-intelligence-powered product to receive FDA approval in pathology. Now the entrepreneur is on to what he sees as the next big frontier for health care—and for A.I. “I’ve been fascinated by the microbiome for a long time,” says Grady, who founded his startup in 2022 but has been in stealth mode most of that time. “Jona is driven by my conviction that the microbiome is the next evolution of health care.”
The microbiome, of course, is the collection of microorganisms that live throughout the human body, primarily in the small and large intestines. An increasing body of research has connected microbiome imbalances to all sorts of health issues, from liver disease to depression. “It’s really remarkable how foundational the microbiome is to our health,” says Grady.
The microbiome is also data-rich, because human bodies contain trillions of microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi. And while microbiome tests, which evaluate a person’s unique microorganism levels via a stool sample, have become readily available, they don’t necessarily help patients make sense of that available information. That’s where Jona comes in: The company uses A.I. to match the growing number of scientific studies to results from a person’s unique microbiome test results to provide personalized insights and suggestions.
According to Grady, most of the current players focused on the microbiome are either hawking probiotics or in the “deep therapeutics” category, meaning they’re developing drugs for specific conditions. But Jona looks at our gut a little differently. “Nobody’s been focused on the tech side of things,” says Grady. “We built a large language model that can interpret data from the microbiome.”
Jona is in an “early access” period at the moment, taking preorders and selling to a small group of early customers who are helping the company perfect its product.
Grady’s biggest challenge? He says he is focused on getting lots of feedback from users, building an incredible product, and preparing to fully come out of stealth mode. “It’s a huge effort,” says Grady, who is an inventor on more than 300 patents.
The Fortune Founders Forum is a community of entrepreneurs chosen by Fortune’s editorial team to participate at the annual Brainstorm Tech conference, which took place in Deer Valley, Utah, in July. Our inaugural cohort was selected based on a variety of factors, including the potential impact of their companies, and reflected a diversity of geographies, sectors, and demographics.
